Sol: Back to the Cradle
05 Mar 2021OmegaPaladin
When I received a message from my Father, I was worried that someone had died. I had drifted out of contact with my family over time, especially since began working regularly for the Sirius Corporation. Fortunately, no one was dead. Unfortunately, Arbor Caelum bought out most of the family businesses - all the in-system traders and fuel collectors were under their control. It was only a matter of time before Scobee Prospect lost its independence as well. That left my family with a lot of people in need of a new job and a new home.One of the nice things about being a successful pilot is that I can buy my way out of some problems. I lent out my ships to my family, and they left ZTA behind, with my aunt flying cover in my Eagle. The real question was where to go. Given my rank in the Federation Naval Reserve, I was able to head to the most prestigious system in known space - Sol, the cradle of humanity. People millennia ago dreamed of traveling within the Sol system, with interstellar travel only a dream. The system was filled with opportunities, and was close by the main holdings of the Sirius Corporation. With the upcoming summit, I could use my position in Sirius to get them some work in the company. They were expected severe pirate attacks, a massive demand on their logistics, and all the attendant craziness of a massive event like this.
Sol had plenty of choices for nice places to live. The luxurious tourist stations like Abraham Lincoln or Mars High were something to behold, but housing on those stations was incredibly expensive. However, the surface settlements on Mars and Titan were remarkably affordable - probably because you need an atmospheric flight permit to get to and from orbit. I have not heard of any Pilot's Federation commander with that kind of access, although I hear there are behind the scenes negotiations going on for some limited access to bodies with limited atmosphere, similar to the grant of surface landing rights and access to engineers they worked out not too long ago.
That's when one of my cousins made a suggestion, causing me to facepalm. I was a Commander, but my family only had local permits from the Federation. I called some of my colleagues in Federation Unite!, who held seats for Sothis and Ceos. My work there for Sirius had won me a lot of friends, and they put in a word with the Federal Congress. My family would have access to several atmospheric permits, provided they could pas the exam. I parked m,y space ships at Titan City and Mars High, and made arrangements with a few space hotels there for when I came to visit. Finally, my family could have a safe and prosperous place to live.